Texas A&M System bans drag shows from its universities

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Friday passed a resolution banning all drag performances from taking place on its 11 university campuses.

This means that Draggieland, a beloved annual event scheduled for March 27 at the Rudder Theatre on the College Station campus, will have to find a new venue. Students have also held drag shows at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi and East Texas A&M University.

The move sparks a new First Amendment fight between students and university administrators. The Queer Empowerment Council, a student group that hosts Draggieland, has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the ban.

The resolution passed on Friday says the board recognizes the need for universities to foster a sense of community and belonging among students but adds that drag shows are “inconsistent with [the system’s] mission and core values, including the value of respect for others.”

The resolution also says drag shows are “likely to create or contribute to a hostile environment for women,” contrary to university and federal anti discrimination policies.

“These events often involve unwelcome and objectively offensive conduct based on sex for many members of the respective communities of the universities, particularly when they involve the mockery or objectification of women,” the resolution says.

The resolution says having on-campus drag shows may be seen as promoting gender ideology and that both President Donald J. Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott have said federal and state funds may not be used for that purpose. It directs the system’s chancellor and the president of each institution to implement the policy, including canceling any upcoming drag shows.

The vote was unanimous. Regent Mike Hernandez III was absent.

In the hours after the vote, the Queer Empowerment Council said in a statement that it was "profoundly disheartened" by the decision and was exploring whether it could hold Draggieland on the same or a different date at a different venue.

"We are committed to ensuring that our voices are heard, and that Draggieland will go on, no matter the obstacles we face," the group said.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court a few days later, the Queer Empowerment Council alleges the system violated their First Amendment rights and the Texas Open Meetings Act.

“Public universities can’t shut down student expression simply because the administration doesn’t like the ‘ideology’ or finds the expression ‘demeaning,’” Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, wrote in a statement. “That’s true not only of drag performances, but also religion, COVID, race, politics, and countless other topics where campus officials are too often eager to silence dissent.”

The Queer Empowerment Council also claims the system did not post an agenda for the regents' Friday meeting 72 hours in advance as required by state law. The group says when the agenda was posted on Thursday, it did “not identify an emergency or urgent public necessity justifying the need for the inadequate notice.”

A system spokesperson said its attorneys are reviewing the lawsuit.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing the Queer Empowerment Council and students at West Texas A&M University, who sued in 2023 when university President Walter Wendler canceled an on-campus drag show, similarly arguing such performances degrade women.

The students said his comments were off base and sued him for violating their First Amendment rights as well as a state law that prohibits universities from barring student organizations from using their facilities on the basis of the political, religious, philosophical, ideological or academic viewpoints the organizations express. The court has allowed Wendler’s cancellation to stand while it makes a decision.

Civil rights groups have condemned the resolution on Friday. Ash Hall, policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the ACLU of Texas, said the West Texas A&M lawsuit plus one their organization spearheaded and ultimately blocked a statewide ban on drag shows "makes this kind of absurd."

"To do this now, while that's already happening, is a waste of time and resources and makes it seem like the Board of Regents is more focused on culture wars than educating their students," they said.

Sofia Sepulveda, field director for Equality Texas, noted that not all drag is performed by men.

"Women performers also delight in a chance to poke fun at stereotypes that have held women back for generations," she said.

She also criticized the gender disparities among the flagship's faculty.

"If A&M is worried about creating a hostile environment for women, then why don't they hire more women?" Sepulveda said. "Right now, only 40% of the faculty at Texas A&M are women, 60% are men. That's a serious issue."

The Queer Empowerment Council have said Draggieland, which has sold out the 750-seat Rudder Theatre in the past, is an important outlet for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when it has come under attack from conservative policymakers in Texas and across the nation.

Students raised funds to keep the show going when the university stopped sponsoring it in 2022. In the years since, they’ve seen LGBTQ+ representation and resources on campus diminish.

Last year, Texas A&M University cut an LGBTQ+ studies minor and stopped offering gender-affirming care at the Beutel Student Health Center. In a statement, the university said it had begun coordinating with the division of student affairs to notify student organizations about the board's decision.

The Queer Empowerment Council has asked people to dress in drag on March 6 when they go about their business on campus to show it is not disruptive or inappropriate.

Regents are also expected to decide soon who should be the system’s next leader after Chancellor John Sharp retires this year. Regents met in Houston earlier to interview candidates. They have not made a decision on a finalist but they are expected to meet again March 7 at 10:30 a.m.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: Equality Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University System and West Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

---

We can’t wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more.

Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.